Trivia

Was Greta Garbo's mentor, and brought her to Hollywood. He was abruptly fired from directing her second MGM Hollywood film, La tentatrice (1926), after repeated arguments with MGM executives and was soon let go. Unable to hold a job in Hollywood, he returned to Sweden in 1928 and died shortly after at age 45. Garbo was devastated.

The son of Polish-Russian parents, he escaped to Sweden via Finland in order to avoid being conscripted into the Tsarist Army.

His directing style was entirely autocratic, in that he demanded total control over all facets of his production -- something he could never have hoped to achieve in Hollywood, and which contributed significantly to his failure there.

One of the primary directors of early Swedish film, rivaled only by Victor Sjöström. Main works include Le trésor d'Arne (1919), Erotikon (1920) and La légende de Gösta Berling (1924), the latter starring Greta Garbo.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1713 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on April 14, 1988. His star was originally listed under the erroneous name "Maurice Diller".

In 1924, Mauritz Stiller planned to shoot a film in Turkey titled "The Odalisque from Smyrna" and had hired Conrad Veidt and Einar Hanson as stars. Along with Hansen and protégeé Garbo, Stiller left for Istanbul but the promised financing vanished. Stiller reportedly returned to Berlin to raise backing, but failed. Garbo remained in Turkey sulking, not even communicating with fellow Swede Hanson. Eventually, she returned to Berlin.

Was an actor of the Swedish Theatre of Helsinki in his youth.

Began as an actor with the Svenska Bio Company in 1911. Graduated to writing and directing the following year.

A native of Finland, Stiller was drafted into Czar Nicholas II's army as Finland at that time was under Russian rule. Rather than serve in the army, he fled to Sweden.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 1063-1069. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1987).